Is crowdfunding after death the new life insurance?

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HOUSTON, TX-- While we were keeping up with Kardashians (as if!), we noticed Kim K tweeted out a plea on behalf of murdered NFL player Will Smith.

"Please send support for his wife & children," Kimmy tweeted, then offered a link to a crowd funding site that asks for $50,000 for the Smith family.

That got us thinking-- isn't that what life insurance is for? Has crowdfunding after a death become the new life insurance?

"I think that they should have looked to the future a little more and maybe had some life insurance to cover the problems that they had to know were coming eventually," says Robert Bolander, who proudly carries all types of insurance.

Of course, Smith couldn't have predicted being shot. But he could have predicted dying some day.

Tristen Sutton runs his own insurance agency in Houston, Sutton Insurance. He has made convincing folks to buy life insurance a personal mission, hashtagging it: 'Team No Fish Plates.'

"You see people going on websites, raising money for funerals, having to have fish fries or sell fish dinner plates to raise money for a funeral," he explains. "Join Team No Fish Plates, get life insurance for your family and your loved ones, so you won't have to go sell fish fry dinners or go to these websites and beg for money in a time of mourning."

That sounds logical, but just try convincing millennials to solve their problems off-line.

"Now that everything is on social media, we are connected globally and everywhere," says 25-year-old Ruqaiya Aliyya, who admits she doesn't carry life insurance. "I think it's a good idea to get whatever help you can, especially for the people who cannot afford life insurance."

Sutton refutes that point, "Research shows that people believe that life insurance is more expensive than it actually is. You can get a life policy for around $15 to $20 a month and leave your family six figures."

Despite their goals, GoFundMe's funeral and tribute pages raise on average about $2200.

But the average funeral today is around $10,000 to $12,000 dollars, says Sutton. And the average life insurance policy payoff is around $50,000 to $100,000 of coverage, more than enough for funeral expenses and any other debts that arise.

The bottom line: "You can either sacrifice the money now to get the coverage for your family," Sutton says, "or your family can beg for the money later."